Agenda item

(a)       That the report be noted; and 

(b)       That a progress report be submitted to the September 2013 meeting of the Committee. 

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development introduced the report to provide Members with an overview of the Workforce Workstream within the Flintshire Futures Programme and provide a progress report. 

            The report detailed the key objectives and the progress to date for each of the four areas of the workstream.  The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development explained that Organisation Design and Development would have a significant impact on the Council and would assist in looking at the size and shape of organisation going forward. She stated that £4m savings had already been achieved across the Council but that there was now the need review service delivery models, the integration of business units, review of management layers and overhead costs.  On readiness to change, it was reported that the behavioural competencies had been redrafted to define the competencies required for employees at every level to meet the organisational challenges of the future.  The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development advised that Members would receive regular updates and an appraisals workshop was to be held for Members in March 2013.  The implementation of iTrent, which Members would also receive updates on, would encourage the move to a paperless environment.  The fourth key objective was Consultants, Interims & Agency – Procurement and Expenditure and the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development explained that a significant amount of work had been undertaken to understand the level of use and the spend incurred and ways of reducing the dependency.  Details of efficiency targets would be shared with Members when these were available. 

            The Cabinet Member for Corporate Management thanked the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development for the report and said that it was essential to modernise, work together and adapt to move forward. 

            In response to a question from Councillor P. Shotton on collaboration with other authorities, the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that collaboration and partnership working was always part of the considerations when looking at redesign.  A number of examples across the organisation had been successful and included the collaboration for Occupational Health Services with Wrexham County Borough Council and the training arrangements in place with Deeside College.  She spoke of the ongoing work to review the classification and categorisation of consultants and it was reported that it was intended to start up a working group to undertake an options appraisal to identify the most effective means for procuring and managing consultants in the future. 

            On the issue of iTrent, the Chief Executive said that the saving was in time and process and that some of the bigger consultancy costs were linked to big projects which would end when the project ended.  On collaboration, in his experience, sharing experience created bigger savings. 

            Councillor P.G. Heesom welcomed the report and commented on previous problems with the HR service and the much improved service which was in place today.  He referred to the use of consultants and interim post holders and said that it was important to ensure that the skills of staff employed by the Council were also utilised.  The Chief Executive explained that a significant amount of progress had taken place in HR but that there was still work to do.  He spoke of the consultants who had been brought in for specific projects highlighting in particular the project manager for P2P who had been a valuable consultant as there was nobody within the authority with the expertise needed.  He said that the amount spent on consultants was sometimes over-exaggerated and reiterated his earlier comment that consultants brought in for specific projects would leave at the end of the project. 

            The Leader of the Council shared Councillor Heesom’s concerns over consultancy costs.  Within Organisation Design and Development, he felt that the review of management and supervision was the key objective but said that it was important that it was undertaken in a measured and orderly way whilst protecting front line services.  The Chief Executive referred to the savings of over £4m which had been made as a result of significant changes to the senior management/leadership structure and a large number of service reviews.  The Cabinet Member for Corporate Management said that it was easy to criticise the amount spent on consultants but spoke of their knowledge and expertise in their field which had been a tremendous asset to the council.  Councillor P.J. Curtis felt that it was important to look for the skills and talents of the employees of the Council and the need to assist and train them to progress within the authority. 

            The Leader of the Council said that there was a need to approach the redesign of the management structure in a methodical manner and spoke of the opportunity to export and import good practices.  The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development commented on the work being undertaken to develop skills of employees and to improve succession planning which would assist the Council in developing and growing its own employees within the Council thereby attracting and retaining talented people.   

            In response to a question from Councillor R.G. Hampson about collaboration, the Chief Executive commented on a regional framework to deliver savings through procurement and other areas such as ICT. 

            Councillor A. Woolley welcomed the report and highlighted the transformation of working practices to focus on customer requirements and deliver ‘value for money’ and the redrafting of the appraisal process.  The Leader of the Council said that it was important that value for money was an overarching philosophy in all of the Flintshire Futures Workstreams. 

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the report be noted; and 

(b)       That a progress report be submitted to the September 2013 meeting of the Committee.